A Squeamish Adventure
by Emcnary
Summary: A surprise has Molly Weasley visiting Knockturn Alley for the first time. Unfortunately, it turns out to be as unpleasant as she had always heard.


Molly hurried down the stretch of sidewalk that connected Diagon Alley to Knockturn Alley, the rapid footsteps from her sensible boots echoing in her ears like a constant reminder that this errand was a bad idea. Taking a deep breath, she told herself that she was not only desperate, but she was in a hurry; the cost of a babysitter was a luxury their family couldn't afford, and she'd left her older brother, Gideon, in charge of the boys—Merlin knows what mess she would come home to, but it wasn't as if she could have three little boys tagging along.

She exhaled the breath she'd drawn, immediately regretting the deep drag of air she'd taken in once the smell of rubbish that littered the streets of Knockturn Alley invaded her nostrils. Fighting the urge to vomit for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past two weeks, Molly closed her eyes and breathed shallowly, willing the nausea to pass as she silently cursed her decision to have the second glass of wine at Auntie Muriel's annual summer gathering the previous month that had turned her amorous and apparently forgetful. Gathering her courage and hoping she wouldn't see anybody she knew—which was blessedly unlikely since in her nearly thirty years she'd never visited Knockturn Alley—Molly crossed the street to avoid the man standing on the corner speaking to himself, making her way to the Apothecary that sold their potions and ingredients at a much cheaper price than the much more reputable Diagon Alley Apothecary.

This usually was an errand she had Arthur run for her, but since she'd yet to summon enough of her supposed Gryffindor courage to tell him that she was unexpectedly expecting their fourth child, she was on her own. Arthur was currently sympathizing with his wife over what he believed was the tail end of a vicious stomach virus that the boys had picked up—likely from the Wee Witches and Wizards cooperative playgroup they attended once a week.

As she hurried down the dingy street, Molly questioned her decision to make this trip on her own and vowed to not let Arthur find out that she'd ventured through these foul streets alone. The shop fronts advertised products and services Molly was sure she wanted absolutely nothing to do with, the clientele that walked the streets looked as though they'd slept in the allies rather than in a proper bed, and the smells that wafted past her nose were much worse than the smell of cooking and young boys' messes at home that had been plaguing her for weeks and had finally prodded her into using the Pregnancy Detection Spell.

Not only was this pregnancy a surprise, but it was already a challenge with its extreme nausea and exhaustion that started much earlier, by her calculations, than the previous three. The others had been smooth-sailing in comparison, and they had yielded perfectly pleasant and mild-mannered infants, especially Percy. Molly tried not to put too much stock in Divination, but couldn't help but hope that the pregnancy didn't foretell that this next child would be a handful; with four children under the age of eight in their home, a content baby would certainly be welcome with the chaos that would surely ensue. The roiling of her stomach once more seemed to mock her thoughts, and Molly had to stop and close her eyes for a moment before continuing on her way, grimacing once again at her inability to remember to cast a Contraceptive Charm.

In an effort to distract herself from the battle ensuing in her stomach, Molly peered into some of the shop windows. The display in the least-dingy shop window she'd come across that featured a family of intricately folded parchment dragons nearly had her stopping again to explore for Charlie, but she continued with a sigh; not only could they likely afford such a thing, but the hag standing in front of that particular shop had her crossing the street once more as she glanced at the parchment clutched in her hand with the Apothecary's address. She looked up at the numbers on the buildings—she was close.

Molly stood at the door that had the correct number above it and steeled herself before entering—if the relatively innocuous smells of cooking sent her to the bathroom, heaving the meager tea and toast she forced herself to stomach during the day, the peculiar ingredients sold in the Apothecary were going to present a challenge. Unlike the shops in Diagon Alley, there was no cheerful bell to announce her entry into the shop, and Molly, unfortunately, had to open her mouth to call for assistance, immediately wishing she'd had the foresight to cast a Bubble-Head Charm before entering. Luckily she'd written down her list and could simply hand it to the disheveled man that appeared from behind a flimsy curtain separating the main room from the back. He raised his eyebrows at her and gave a knowing smirk as he read through her list, gathering the needed ingredients and throwing two vials of the prepared Anti-nausea Potion into her sack at no charge.

After hastily sliding her payment across the counter, Molly turned to leave, digging through the sack for the free dose of potion the man had generously given her. The waves of nausea she had successfully fought while in the shop finally overtook her, and she looked wildly up and down the street for an alley entrance to duck into.

Vanishing her sick and swishing her mouth out with a tiny bit of water from her wand, Molly froze as a kind, and familiar voice behind her asked, "Do you need any help, ma'am?"

Leave it to Arthur to stop and aid anybody that looked like they were in need of assistance—even a witch who was likely breaking an ordinance by vomiting on the street. Glad that she'd put up the hood of her hopefully unrecognizable patched cloak before leaving the shop since her hair would surely give her away, Molly waved her hand dismissively behind her back, hoping he would take the hint and leave, allowing her to escape so she could head back to the Burrow and vomit in a toilet like a civilized witch.

"Are you sure? You look like you could—Molly?"

Molly sighed—simultaneously wondering why this had to be the day he was out of his office and thanking Merlin that his partner wasn't with him on his errand—and turned toward her husband, who was staring at her incredulously. Not having the energy to come up with a suitable excuse for being in one of the most wretched areas of wizarding Britain, and knowing it was time to come clean, she held up the small sack from the Apothecary, recognizable by the intertwined snakes emblazoned on the front.

His brow furrowed, Arthur stared at the sack for a long moment with an indiscernible expression on his face that suddenly became a look of shock as he finally put the pieces together. Holding her breath—as much to keep the stench of the alley out of her nose as it was in anticipation—Molly stared at her husband, trying to decide if his expression was shocked and happy or shocked and appalled. As his eyes slowly moved from the bag clutched in her hand up to her face, Molly relaxed as a grin tugged at his lips.

"Really?"

His grin turned into a wide smile when Molly nodded her head, and she nearly laughed as her husband whooped for joy and rushed forward to embrace her. She grasped the front of Arthur's robes leaned against his chest, inhaling the comforting scent of him. As he released her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her down the streets toward Diagon Alley and fussing over her as he inundated her with questions, she counted herself the luckiest witch in the world. No matter their cramped home, no matter their finances, and no matter the chaos that would certainly come from having four children, her husband's joy at the prospect of a new baby gracing their family was enough to bolster Molly against the crippling morning sickness and made her feel like she could manage anything that came their way.

* * *

A/N: Finals Round 1-Knockturn Alley Chaser 3: Write about someone's first visit to Knockturn Alley

Additional prompts: 6. (Image), 9. (Restriction) no dialogue tags, 11. (Word) feature

Word count: 1374 per Google docs


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